Dumpling Automation Machine

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a dumpling automation machine for preparing dumpling-like food product, comprising a pressing and cutting device for dough pad, a filling injection device and a forming assembly, wherein the forming assembly comprises: a mold assembly for supporting a dough pad injected with a filling and maintaining the dough pad in an upright position; a pre-forming assembly for pre-pressing the upright dough pad to form a pre-pressed crest; and a forming assembly for pressing the pre-pressed crest to from a crest; wherein the mold assembly is configured to successively support the dough pad in different positions along a conveyor, and wherein in a pre-forming position, pre-bending portions on the two ends of the crest are formed by the pre-forming assembly, and in a forming position, the pre-bending portions are bent to form bending portion by a bending assembly.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application represents a continuation application ofapplication Ser. No. 15/739,313, filed Dec. 22, 2017, pending, whichrepresents a National Stage application of PCT/US2016/041629 entitled“Dumpling Automation Machine”, filed Jul. 8, 2016. The entire content ofthese applications is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present invention generally relates to the food processing filed,and more particularly to a dumpling automation machine.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

Currently, the fast rice and flour food manufacturer typically utilizessome automation devices to improve the yield in the producing process.Taken the dumpling as an example, dough mixing, dough pad cutting,filling injecting and dumpling forming are mostly accomplished by theautomation devices, and thus the production efficiency is significantlyincreased as compared to the manual production.

However, due to particularity of the process of flour food with filling,there is no a series of complete technologies to accomplish theautomatic forming of the flour food in the current fast rice and flourfood manufacturing field. For the dumpling, the current process canaccomplish the automatic pressing of the dough pad, the automaticinjecting of the filling and the pre-forming of the dumpling with ahalf-moon-like shape, but still needs people to pinch the dumpling andput it into the box for packaging. On one hand, the cost of laborrestricts the economic benefit of the manufacturer, and on the otherhand, due to the variety of the people, the shapes of the finaldumplings are very different, thereby affecting the aesthetic effect.Additionally, also due to the manual process, the pinching force isdifficult to control, thus the filling may overflow, and there areuncertain factors in the operation of packaging the dumpling into thebox.

SUMMARY

In order to overcome the defects in the prior art, the present inventionprovides an automatic process device for forming dumpling-like foodproduct, which can accomplish the complete automatic process of thedumpling-like food product without manual operation of people.

It should be noted that, terms like “dumpling-like food product” as usedherein not only indicate the traditional food product of Chinesedumplings but also include other dumpling-like food products such asJapanese dumplings, pierogi, ravioli, etc. For a purpose of easydescription, opposite margins of a dough pad that are pinched togetherand thereby stick to each other so as to form an arcuate ridge will becalled herein as a “crest”. And, the bulging part that holds a fillingtherein will be called as a “pocket” or “filling pocket” in thedescription herein. The dumpling-like food product in this invention allcomprises a filling pocket, and form a half-moon-like shape by thepressing operation via people or machines, and has a central bulgingfilling pocket and a peripheral arcuate crest bordering the pocket.

In order to achieve the objective of complete automation process, thepresent invention provides a dumpling automation machine comprising aforming assembly for preparing dumpling-like food product, the formingassembly comprising a pair of reciprocating forming plates arrangedopposite to each other, a crab-claw structure being provided on at leastone of the forming plates and comprising a plurality of crab-clawfingers articulated together, after the pair of forming plates beingreciprocated toward each other and pressed, the plurality of crab-clawfingers pivoting to press and form one or more convex ribs on a filledpocket of the dumpling.

The present invention can integrate the pressing and cutting of thedough pad, the injecting of the filling, and the pre-forming and formingof the dough pad without the participation of people in the forming ofthe dumpling-like food product, thus the present invention can replacethe traditional manufacturing mode of manual dumpling process and thusthe productivity effect can be significantly increased. Moreover, theforming of the dumpling-like food products completely depend on theforming mold of the machine, thus the products have uniform shape andreliable quality. Additionally, the present invention creatively formsbending portions on the two ends of the crest of the dumpling-like foodproduct, and this unique shape has an attractive appearance which helpsto put the dumpling-like food product into a box and facilitates thepackaging.

Based on the above concept, the present invention may be taken in anyone or more embodiments as follows.

According to a preferable embodiment, the mold assembly comprises acover plate and a bottom plate spaced from each other in a verticaldirection, and one or more cup stands are arranged between the coverplate and the bottom plate and installed on the bottom plate, andwherein each cup stand has an opening communicated with an opened groovein the cover plate so that the dough pad cut down is directed to passthrough the opened groove and supported in the cup stand in the uprightposition after being injected with the filling.

According to a preferable embodiment, the pre-forming assembly comprisesa first pressing plate and a second pressing plate arranged opposite toeach other, and when the mold assembly is in the pre-forming position,the first pressing plate and the second pressing plate arereciprocatingly moved along a top of the cover plate relative to eachother so as to pre-press the dough pad to form the pre-pressed crest.

According to a preferable embodiment, one of the first pressing plateand the second pressing plate is provided with an inclined shearingsurface, and the other one is provided with a corresponding inclinedshearing projection so that when the first pressing plate and the secondpressing plate press relatively, the dough pad is fitted between theinclined shearing surface and the inclined shearing projection to formthe pre-bending portions on the two ends of the crest.

According to a preferable embodiment, the forming assembly comprises afirst forming plate and a second forming plate arranged opposite to eachother, and when the mold assembly is in the forming position, the firstforming plate and the second forming plate are reciprocatingly movedalong a top of the cover plate relative to each other so as to press andform the crest.

According to a preferable embodiment, the first forming plate isprovided with a crab claw structure having a plurality of crab clawsheets articulated together, and after the first forming plate and thesecond forming plate are pressed, the plurality of crab claw sheetspivot relatively to press and form one or more convex ribs on a fillingpocket of the dumpling.

According to a preferable embodiment, the bending assembly is arrangedon the mold assembly, and comprises a sliding rod arranged in the cupstand, a sliding block capable of moving along the sliding rod and apair of bending rods arranged on the two sides of the sliding block andswinging from the horizontal direction to the perpendicular direction,and when the mold assembly is in the forming position, the sliding blockand the bending rods slide out of the cup stand and the bending rodsswing upwards to bend the pre-bending portions on the two ends of thecrest to from the bending portions.

According to the present invention, the dumpling automation systemfurther comprises a clamping device for clamping and putting thedumpling-like food product formed by pressing into a box.

According to a preferable embodiment, the clamping device comprises afirst clamp and a second clamp capable of abutting against each other,and the first clamp and the second clamp are respectively provided witha bending area for bending the bending portions so as to help to putthem into the box when the first clamp and the second clamp abut andpress the dumpling-like food product formed by pressing.

According to a preferable embodiment, the first clamp and the secondclamp are respectively provided with structural portions correspondingto surficial features of the dumpling-like food product formed bypressing, thereby enhancing the forming during the clamping.

According to a preferable embodiment, the conveyor comprises a circularrotary guide rail. With this arrangement, the mold assembly and thedough pad can be repeatedly conveyed in different positions in arotatory form, and the pre-forming assembly, the forming assembly andthe clamping device only need to be arranged in a single position. Ascompared with the prior process line, the whole dumpling automationmachine occupies a relatively small space and therefore can be utilizedin most applications.

The mold assembly and the pre-forming assembly are provided to help toform the pinch lines along with the crab claw structure and form thebending portions at two ends of the crest. The mold assembly, thepre-forming assembly and the forming assembly having crab claw structureare complementary to each other. The mold assembly ensures the formationof the crest. Also, the mold assembly is provided with the bendingassembly for bending two ends of the crest. Moreover, the pre-formingassembly is also provided with pre-bending features for pre-bending theends of the crest during the pre-pressing operation. With such design,the bending portions can be easily formed when the dumpling is formed bythe crab claw structure and the bending assembly at the formingposition. It is easy to clamp and put the dumpling having the bendingportions at two ends thereof into the box. Such design makes thedumplings have an excellent appearance and convenience of stacking eachother.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other features, objects and advantages will become apparent by referenceto the following description of the illustrative embodiments taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates the position arrangement of a dumplingautomation machine according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view illustrating a mold assembly of the dumplingautomation machine according to a preferable embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view illustrating the mold assembly of FIG. 2 inthe forming position;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the mold assembly of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view illustrating a pre-forming assembly of thedumpling automation machine according to a preferable embodiment of thepresent invention, wherein the forming assembly is in the non-pressedstate;

FIG. 6 illustrates the pre-forming assembly of FIG. 5 from anotherangle;

FIG. 7 illustrates the pressed state of the pre-forming assembly of FIG.5:

FIG. 8 illustrates the pressed state of the pre-forming assembly of FIG.6 from another angle;

FIG. 9 is a schematic view illustrating a forming assembly of thedumpling automation machine according to a preferable embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 10 illustrates the forming assembly of FIG. 9 from another angle;

FIG. 11 is a schematic view illustrating a crab claw structure of theforming assembly of FIG. 9 in a non-pressed state;

FIG. 12 is a schematic view illustrating the crab claw structure of theforming assembly of FIG. 9 in a pressed state;

FIG. 13 is a schematic view illustrating a clamping assembly of thedumpling automation machine according to a preferable embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 14 is a schematic view illustrating the clamping device of FIG. 13in the clamped state, wherein the clamped dumpling-like food is notshown;

FIG. 15 is a planar schematic view illustrating a first clamp of theclamping device of FIG. 13; and

FIG. 16 is a planar schematic view illustrating a second clamp of theclamping device of FIG. 13.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, the attached drawings are referred to. Thedrawings constitute a part of the present invention, and some specificembodiments for implementing the present invention are shown by way ofexample in the drawings. In this regard, some orientation terms, such as“left”, “right”, “top”, “bottom”, “front”, “back”, “guide”, “forwards”,and “backwards”, are used with reference to the directions shown in thedrawings. Thus, the members of the embodiments of the present inventionmay be arranged in different directions, and the orientation terms areused as example rather than limitation. It may be appreciated thatwithout departing from the scope of the present invention, otherembodiments may be used, or some structural or logical changes may bepossible. Therefore, the following specific description is not meant asa limitation of the present invention, and the scope of the presentinvention is defined by the attached claims.

Firstly, referring to FIG. 1, a dumpling automation machine of thepresent invention can integrate a pressing and cutting device for doughpad, a filling injecting device and a forming assembly in positionarrangements distributed circularly, wherein the forming assemblycomprises a mold assembly, a pre-forming assembly and a formingassembly. As the mold assembly can move along the circular rotatoryguide rail, the dough pad cut by cutters is received in the dough padcutting position, the filling is injected in the filling injectingposition, and the pre-pressed crest and the pre-bending portions on thetwo ends thereof are formed by pre-pressing the dough pad via thepre-forming assembly in the pre-forming position, and the crest areformed by the forming assembly and the pre-bending portions are bent toform bending portions via the bending assembly in the forming position.Finally, the formed dumpling-like food products are clamped by theclamping device and put into a box for packaging in the clampingposition. After the whole forming process, the mold assembly moves tothe dough pad cutting position in another circulation along the circularrotatory guide rail. It should be noted that the embodiment shown in thedrawings is exemplary, and considering the moving space of eachstructure, eight positions are shown and void positions are left forbuffering. However, according to the actual arrangement requirements,less or more positions are also possible.

For the purpose of simplicity, the conveyor and the driving mechanismare not shown in the specific structures shown in the followingdrawings. The drawings schematically illustrate the main members of theforming assembly and the clamping device of the dumpling automationmachine. It may be appreciated that the person skilled in the art canutilize the members shown in the drawings and the connecting mechanismor the driving mechanism in any appropriate forms based on the conceptof the present invention.

FIGS. 2-4 illustrate the mold assembly of the dumpling automationmachine according to one preferable embodiment of the present invention.The mold assembly comprises a cover plate 11 and a bottom plate 12spaced from each other in a vertical direction and fixedly connectedwith each other via connecting rods as shown in the drawings. One ormore cup stands 13 are arranged between the cover plate 11 and thebottom plate 12 and mounted on the bottom plate 12. Two cup stands 13are schematically shown in the drawings. Each cup stand 13 has anopening communicated with an opened groove 14 in the cover plate 11,thus the dough pad cut down may be directed to pass through the openedgroove 14 and uprightly received in the cup stand 13 after the fillingis injected. For this purpose, the opened groove 14 may be configured tohave two elongated end portions and an enlarged middle portion. Themiddle portion is aligned with the opening of the cup stand 13 forreceiving the portion of the dough pad which is injected with thefilling and formed as the filling pocket, and the two elongated endportions are used to receive the portion of the dough pad forming thecrest and serve as the travelling passage of the bending assembly whichwill be explained in details as follows.

FIGS. 5-8 illustrate the pre-forming assembly of the dumpling automationmachine according to one preferable embodiment of the present invention.The pre-forming assembly comprises a first pressing plate base 21 and asecond pressing plate base 22, wherein a first pressing plate 23 and asecond pressing plate 24 are respectively arranged on the first pressingplate base 21 and the second pressing plate base 22, and therefore bedriven to reciprocatingly move relative to each other. In theillustrated structure, the first pressing plate 23 and the secondpressing plate 24 are respectively provided with a hollowed-out portion27. When the mold assembly is moved to the pre-forming position, thefirst pressing plate 23 and the second pressing plate 24 arereciprocatingly moved along a top of the cover plate 11 of the moldassembly relative to each other so as to pre-press the dough pademerging from the cover plate 11 to form the pre-pressed crest withoutpressing the filling pocket, thereby preventing the filling overflowing.

According to the present invention, the pre-bending portions arepre-formed in the pre-forming position, and then bent in the formingposition to form the bending portions on the two ends of the crest. Forthis purpose, according to one embodiment shown in the drawings, one ofthe two pressing plates is provided with an inclined shearing surface,and accordingly, the other one is provided with an inclined shearingprojection. For example, the first pressing plate 23 is provided with aninclined shearing projection 25 and the second pressing plate 24 isprovided with an inclined shearing surface 26. Depending on the actualdesign requirements, the inclined shearing surface and the inclinedshearing projection are arranged in pairs at the pressing portions onthe two ends of one pressing plate, or respectively arranged on the twoopposite pressing plates. When the first pressing plate 23 and thesecond pressing plate 24 are pressed relative to each other, the doughpad is fitted between the inclined shearing surface 26 and the inclinedshearing projection 25 so as to form the pre-bending portions on the twoends of the crest.

After forming the pre-pressed crest and the pre-bending portions on thetwo ends of the crest, the dumpling-like food products are conveyed tothe forming position by the mold assembly. FIGS. 9-12 illustrate theforming assembly of the dumpling automation machine according to onepreferable embodiment of the present invention. The forming assemblycomprises a first forming plate base 31 and a second forming plate base32 arranged opposite to each other, wherein a first forming plate 33 anda second forming plate 34 are respectively arranged on the first formingplate base 31 and the second forming plate base 32 and therefore bedriven to reciprocatingly move relative to each other. According to apreferable embodiment, the first forming plate 33 is provided with acrab claw structure having a plurality of crab claw sheets 35articulated at pivoting points 36. For example, four crab claw sheetsare shown in the drawings. Preferably, the second forming plate 34 isfurther provided with a hollow-out area 37, as shown in FIG. 10.Similarly, the plurality of crab claw sheets 35 have a hollow-outportion corresponding to the hollow-out area 37, and are configured toform a hollow-out area 38 between each two crab claw sheets 35, as shownin FIGS. 11 and 12. When the mold assembly is in the forming position,the first forming plate 33 and the second forming plate 34 arereciprocatingly moved along the top of the cover plate 11 of the moldassembly relative to each other so as to press and form the crest. Atthis moment, the plurality of crab claw sheets 35 are pressed andpivoted relatively and form one or more convex ribs on the fillingpocket by shrinking the hollow-out area 38. For example, three convexribs are formed in FIG. 12. By this means, the formed dumpling-like foodproducts have similar shape as pressed by the articulations digitorummanus of people's hand, and the final formed dumpling-like food productshave high degree of simulation, and therefore conform to the aestheticcriteria of people on the traditional handmade dumpling-like foodproducts.

Upon final formation, as best shown in FIG. 4, in order to bend thepre-bending portions on the two ends of the crest, the present inventionfurther provides a bending assembly. Preferably, the bending assembly isarranged on the mold assembly, and comprises a sliding rod 15 arrangedin the cup stand 13, a sliding block 16 capable of moving along thesliding rod 15 and a pair of bending rods 17 arranged on the two sidesof the sliding block 16 and swinging from the horizontal direction tothe perpendicular direction as the sliding block 16 moves. When thedumpling-like food product is to be formed finally, i.e., when the moldassembly is in the forming position, the sliding block 16 and thebending rods 17 slide upwards and move out of the cup stand 13 and thebending rods 17 pass through the opened groove 14 in the cover plate 11and swing upwards, as shown in FIG. 3, thereby pressing and bending thepre-bending portions on the two ends of the crest to from the bendingportions.

After the formation of the dumpling-like food products in the formingposition, the dumpling-like food products are clamped by the clampingdevice to be positioned in the box for packaging. FIGS. 13-16 illustratethe clamping device of the dumpling automation machine according to onepreferable embodiment of the present invention. The clamping devicecomprises a first clamp 41 and a second clamp 42 capable of abuttingagainst each other and driven to perform connecting, opening and closingoperation via a cylinder 43. In the illustrated embodiment, the clampingdevice not only serves to clamp the food product, but also consolidatesand enhances the shaping of the food product. For example, the firstclamp 41 and the second clamp 42 are respectively provided withstructural portions corresponding to surficial features of the formeddumpling-like food product in order to clamp the crest during theclamping. Especially, the first clamp 41 and the second clamp 42 arerespectively provided with a bending area for further bending thebending portions so as to help to put the formed dumpling-like foodproduct into the box.

Specifically, the first clamp 41 may be configured to be U-shaped andhave two pressing areas 41A for enhancing the pitching of the surface ofthe clamped dough pad and two bending areas 41D vertically extendingfrom the ends of the pressing areas 41A respectively. A hollow-out voidarea 41B is formed between the two pressing areas 41A and between thepressing area 41A and the bending area 41D, thereby enhancing thepitching of the convex ribs formed by the forming assembly.Additionally, the two bending areas 41D are respectively provided with apressing area 41C opposite to each other and protruding slightly. Thepressing area 41C can assist to press the filling pocket so that theshape of the dumpling is relatively fuller, and the filling is morecompact. Similarly, the second clamp 42 may also be configured to beU-shaped and provided with pressing areas 42A, hollow-out void areas 42Band bending areas 42D. As shown in FIG. 16, the pressing areas 42Cextend from the bending areas 42D in the plane of the pressing arearelative to each other. With this structure design, when thedumpling-like food is clamped between the first clamp 41 and the secondclamp 42, the pressing areas 41A, 42A further pinch the crest, and thepressing areas 41C, 42C can cover and tighten the filling pocket andcooperate with the hollow-out void areas 41B, 42B to make the convexribs more obvious. Moreover, the bending areas 41D, 42D can bend andcompact the bending portions, thus the formed dumpling-like food producthas a compact crest, a full pocket, a unique shape and is easy to be putinto the box.

The above illustrates and describes basic principles, main features andadvantages of the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art shouldappreciate that the above embodiments do not limit the presentdisclosure in any form. Technical solutions obtained in a way ofequivalent substitution or equivalent variations all fall within thescope of the present disclosure.

1. A dumpling automation machine comprising a forming assembly forpreparing a dumpling-like food product, the forming assembly including apair of reciprocating forming plates arranged opposite to each other, acrab-claw structure provided on at least one of the forming plates and aplurality of crab-claw fingers articulated together wherein, after thepair of forming plates are reciprocated toward each other and pressed,the plurality of crab-claw fingers pivot to press and form one or moreconvex ribs on a filled pocket of the dumpling-like food product.
 2. Thedumpling automation machine according to claim 1, wherein the dumplingautomation machine further comprises a mold assembly arranged at theupstream of the forming assembly for supporting a dough pad injectedwith a filling and maintaining the dough pad in an upright position. 3.The dumpling automation machine according to claim 2, wherein the moldassembly comprises a cover plate and a bottom plate spaced from eachother in a vertical direction, and one or more cup stands are arrangedbetween the cover plate and the bottom plate and installed on the bottomplate, and wherein each cup stand has an opening communicated with anopened groove in the cover plate so that the dough pad cut down isdirected to pass through the opened groove and received in the cup standand kept in the upright position after being injected with the filling.4. The dumpling automation machine according to claim 3, wherein themold assembly is configured to successively support the dough pad indifferent positions along a conveyor.
 5. The dumpling automation machineaccording to claim 4, wherein the dumpling automation machine furthercomprises a pre-forming assembly arranged between the mold assembly andthe forming assembly for pre-pressing the upright dough pad to form apre-pressed crest.
 6. The dumpling automation machine according to claim5, wherein in a pre-forming position, pre-bending portions on the twoends of the crest are formed by the pre-forming assembly, and in aforming position, the pre-bending portions are bent to form bendingportions by a bending assembly.
 7. The dumpling automation machineaccording to claim 6, wherein the pre-forming assembly comprises a firstpressing plate and a second pressing plate arranged opposite to eachother, and when the mold assembly is in the pre-forming position, thefirst pressing plate and the second pressing plate are reciprocatinglymoved along a top of the cover plate relative to each other so as topre-press the dough pad and form the pre-pressed crest.
 8. The dumplingautomation machine according to claim 7, wherein one of the firstpressing plate and the second pressing plate is provided with aninclined shearing surface, and the other one is provided with acorresponding inclined shearing projection so that when the firstpressing plate and the second pressing plate press with each other, thedough pad is fitted between the inclined shearing surface and theinclined shearing projection to form the pre-bending portions on the twoends of the crest.
 9. The dumpling automation machine according to claim6, wherein the pair of the forming plates of the forming assembly arereciprocatingly moved along a top of the cover plate relative to eachother so as to press the pre-pressed crest and form the crest when themold assembly is in the forming position.
 10. The dumpling automationmachine according to claim 6, wherein the bending assembly is arrangedon the mold assembly, and comprises a sliding rod arranged in the cupstand, a sliding block capable of moving along the sliding rod and apair of bending rods arranged on the two sides of the sliding block andswinging from the horizontal direction to the perpendicular directionalong with the motion of the sliding block, and when the mold assemblyis in the forming position, the sliding block and the bending rods slideout of the cup stand and the bending rods swing upwards to bend thepre-bending portions on the two ends of the crest to from the bendingportions.
 11. The dumpling automation machine according to claim 6,wherein the dumpling automation machine further comprises a clampingassembly for clamping and putting the dumpling-like food product formedby pressing into a box.
 12. The dumpling automation machine according toclaim 11, wherein the clamping assembly comprises a first clamp and asecond clamp configured to abut against each other, the first clamp andthe second clamp being respectively provided with a bending area forbending the bending portions for fitting into the box when the firstclamp and the second clamp abut and press the dumpling-like food productformed by pressing.
 13. The dumpling automation machine according toclaim 12, wherein the first clamp and the second clamp are respectivelyprovided with structural portions corresponding to surficial features ofthe dumpling-like food product formed by pressing, thereby enhancing theforming during the clamping.
 14. The dumpling automation machineaccording to claim 4, wherein the conveyor comprises a circular rotaryguide rail.
 15. The dumpling automation machine according to claim 14,wherein the dumpling automation machine further comprises a cuttingassembly and a filling injector arranged upstream of the pair ofreciprocating forming plates in turn along the conveyor.